Enlightenment Teacher

Authentic Enlightenment Teacher

Some practical commonsense pointers for identifying that hard-to-find
authentic guru.

We have been hearing that Enlightenment is difficult to attain and exceedingly
rare. Indians point to their Hindu Vedic scripture for support, and Western
enlightenment teachers concur. Why? Because they are lazy! It would be
bad for business to admit that enlightenment is easy to attain and that
therefore it should be more commonplace. Many teachers would be made redundant,
and so they should be! Enlightenment should be made available to the masses.
But these gurus borrowing their teachings from an antiquated caste-bound
system are unable to make them intelligible.

You can demonstrate this to yourself by enquiring how much you and others
fully understand any particular teacher. What is the primary message of
the teaching, how is enlightenment achieved and which parts are irrelevant?

Many talk about “the teaching” but no-one knows the value
of this or that principle, part, practice or theory. It reminds me of
when as children we swapped “Planet of The Apes” bubble-gum
card. Who really knew what card was worth more than another? For some,
it came down to who was your favourite ape or actor. For others, it related
to which cards were rare. Diamonds are perceived as valuable partly because
they are rare, and De Beers has been accused of withholding its' diamonds
to keep the prices artificially high.

Now, it matters not what you or others think is valuable in terms of
what will get you enlightened. This is so much confusion. There is no
enlightenment tradition, but there is a tradition of confusion. What matters
is what works.

So far you have been unsuccessful. Maybe in your desperation for success
you have bought the latest useless philosophy to be doing the rounds,
which is about as effective for producing enlightenment, as a drunken
rugby song is for finding a girlfriend. In fact, there is something sad
and defeatist about once avowedly earnest seekers congregating around
self-appointed teachers who make a fast buck by glibly and monotonously
repeating, “There is nothing to do, nothing to get. You're already
enlightened.” Such statements are half-baked, delay progress, encourage
lethargy, and are almost never effective.

It also insults the seeker who fervently seeks something, and it is
that desire which will lead them to liberation. When enlightenment has
been achieved then the desire for it will naturally stop. But attempting
forcefully to stop that desire by pouring cold water on the fire by declaring
that `seeking is the problem' is as misguided as taking drugs to find
happiness.

The cosmic circuit, a sort of invisible path trod by seekers, has always
been infested with cheap conmen who fleece those who would pay any price
for liberation. But now a new strain of conman has appeared. This one
commiserates with the repeatedly ripped-off seeker that what they are
looking for does not exist, that it is all just a myth, and if they can
just convince themselves then they can go home and have a normal life.
It's another scam! A real seeker can never stop seeking. Of course, there
are some people who for social reasons have believed themselves to be
seekers and have grown fatigued they can retire and take up something
less taxing!

So what to do? Real teachers are rare. So don't believe every Tom, Dick
and Harry that crosses your path because they have a title, followers,
books, a lineage or official endorsements. Use your intuition, and if
it isn't working to well, then start using your commonsense. Choosing
a teacher is like choosing anything. There are criteria. You may make
the wrong assessment, true, but don't be psyched out or bullied into buying
a holy robe and matching piece of ashram real estate before you are truly
ready. But, when you do choose throw yourself whole-heartedly into it
-- because enlightenment will take everything you have got to -- straight
to the cleaners and return it the next day without a single spot.

So what are the criteria?

Does the teacher claim enlightenment?

Does he say that he can enlighten others?

Can he reveal “No-Mind” (where thoughts seem far away
to you)?

Can he answer all your questions?

Will he undertake to enlighten you?

Can you work with him?

Will you give it your all?

This is a rough and ready list. But many teachers will fall down at
the first two questions. They will find excuses and make myths:

Myths currently in vogue:

a) Anyone who says “I am enlightened” is not enlightened.

Excuse:

An enlightened person would not say they are enlightened

There is no-one there so there is no “I”

A person cannot get enlightened

Enlightenment does not exist (yes, some “teachers” even
say that and use a different word for enlightenment instead!)

b) We are all enlightened

c) There's nothing that you can do to get enlightened.

d) No-one can enlighten anyone

It should be pointed out that these myths have not always been in vogue
and they will fade into the background when it is realised how useless
they are and how they provide cover for conmen to prey on innocent seekers.

Has your once fervent ardour for enlightenment has been dampened? If
so it's now time to dry out that mind-body mechanism and and get burning
for IT!

Dave OshanaEnlightenment-Now

The ground-breaking work of spiritual teacher Dave Oshana and The Enlightenment Transmission including online advice & resources, and international enlightenment teaching schedules. About
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